By: Justin Boone
Amidst the grind of the exhausting practices, positional battles, and learning a new set of rules, two friends are lacing up their cleats on the same team for the first time since their high school days back in Hawaii.
By now everyone in Hamilton has heard the name Timmy Chang. It’s tough to fly under the radar when you’re the NCAA’s all-time passing leader, and the young Ticat quarterback gave credence to the hype sent his way by throwing for 239 yards and two touchdowns in the team’s pre-season opener against the Blue Bombers.
Wide receiver Anthony Arceneaux’s arrival in Steeltown was much different. In fact, if you blinked you likely missed him being added to the roster late in training camp and unless you’ve watched the games closely, you likely wouldn’t recognize the man wearing #8 on the offence.
Initially, Arceneaux didn’t plan on attending the Tiger-Cats annual free agent camp in May, because he didn’t know it was taking place. It was his good friend and former high school teammate, Chang, who alerted him to the tryout.
“Anthony is a guy we sort of had our eye on, but we hadn’t seen him in person. Actually Timmy mentioned his name to me,” said general manager Marcel Desjardins. “At the time we just had enough receivers on the roster, and you can’t overload at one spot because then the other positions will suffer in terms of depth. But when we decided we needed to bring another receiver in, he was one of the guys we wanted.”
“He’s a little bit behind because he came in late, so now he’s going to have work hard to take the next big step forward,” he added.
The two first-year Ticats are a long way from the Honolulu-based St. Louis School where they met and became buddies. Arceneaux jokes that their high school team was so talented they would only play two quarters of games because they were beating their opponents so bad. After graduation the agile wideout headed back inland to the University of Utah, while Chang decided to play in the pass-heavy offence at Hawaii.
“We always stayed in contact,” explained Arceneaux. “I went off to college but whenever I came home on breaks or whatnot I’d be hanging out with this guy (points to Chang). That’s my man right there. We’ve known each other for twelve or thirteen years.”
“He chose to go to Utah, even though I was trying to get him to come over to Hawaii. But it’s funny how things work out,” said the Ticats rookie signal caller.
“If you had to come up with five friends you could count on that would do anything, he’s one of mine,” stated Chang. “He definitely will be one of the guys I will put in my wedding party.”
Arceneaux managed three receptions for 14 yards in the season opener at Calgary.
“I think he’s got a ways to go, he came in over a week behind the veterans in training camp, so he’s got a lot of catching up to do, but he’s going to be fine. He brings diversity and speed, and he can play both sides of the ball, so he can really help,” said a very bias Chang.
Chang’s favorite receiver was equally kind when talking about his friend and feels the transition to the Canadian game is going to be simple for his pal.
“I know how well he can throw the ball. I know he has great vision,” Arceneaux remarked. “He’s been throwing to four or five receiver sets his whole career. The game is pretty much suited to his style of play.”
With such a history between them, it was only fair to assume they had some pretty entertaining stories about each other. So what’s Arceneaux’s best Timmy Chang story?
“Shoot, which one?” he said, as the two friends shared a laugh.
Few things on an offence are as important as the chemistry between a quarterback and his receivers. Chang and Arceneaux hope they’ll have a chance to showcase their skills for Ticats fans at some point in the 2007 season.
